No Illusion
by o0whitelily0o
Summary: [Based off Bluebird's Illusion][Post Veggie!Ed ending, oneshot] Big Brother, you may be gone, but you aren't dead. You'll come back. I'll make sure of it.


_There is a legend that says if one holds firefly grass to his chest and prays,  
Then the person he's thinking of will be able to feel it…_

_Do you believe in this too?_

_…..Even if I didn't have firefly grass, if we were to be separated,  
Brother would be able to feel my thoughts…_

_Yes….he definitely would…._

* * *

It was nice of Winry to visit, wasn't it, Brother? And she even performed a maintenance check on your automail. It's a good thing we came back to Resembool, isn't it? I don't know anything about machinery, and it wouldn't be fair to ask her to keep coming back to Central. One day, Brother, you should thank her, when you get better.

…

…The doctors… don't think you are going to get better. But they don't know you like I do. You're too stubborn to just give up and stay the way you are.

I know that I'll see you smile again… right?

It's a lie… that you'll be like this forever… right?

…But …enough about this. Let's go outside- it's a really nice day out. You'll like it, I'm sure.

* * *

Big Brother, I've been doing a lot of reading lately.

I mean, I always read a lot- but just recently I've been re-reading some of Dad's books on alchemy. I know that human transmutation is impossible. The dead will never come back to the living. Even in my case, I was never really dead.

But then… neither are you, Big Brother.

I can see your chest moving when you breathe, and you can eat if I feed you. I have your body with me, and it's alive.

Your soul, though… it's trapped inside the Gate, isn't it?

Yes, I remember the Gate. How could I ever forget it? My body being taken away was the whole reason this happened. It's… my fault… that you're like this. When you got it back, it wasn't lasting, was it? But you never told me what you wanted to do to fix it. If you had… I would have stopped you. I could never accept your life for mine- not when there are so many times I should have died.

You never saw it that way, did you? You… you stupid brother… You never stopped to consider my feelings. What did you ever think I would do if you died? You've always been so selfish, Brother.

But I was lucky. You didn't die, did you? Just like me, you were taken away. It's my turn to pay you back for everything you've ever done for me. I don't know what the toll will be for your soul- for mine it was your right arm. I think that your's will cost more… equivalent exchange is a cruel thing.

I don't care though. You were always the one who left an imprint. You are the one who became a State Alchemist, you are the one who saved those who needed it, and you are the one… that Winry always loved.

No one will remember your little brother.

So it's okay.

I'm only worried about what may happen if the transmutation goes wrong. If I die, I'll be leaving you alone, won't I?

The risks… are high. I know.

But I've had enough.

I can't stand the thought of you staying like this until you die. Never moving… never smiling… just sitting in that wheelchair, only eating what I put in your mouth and needing me to dress you.

You deserve more, Big Brother. So no matter what the price… I'll get you back.

* * *

_He had been in the dark for so long._

_After he restored his little brother's body, he was cast into a place where he could not feel- lacking a body- and could not see- for there was nothing but pitch black all around._

_Was this death? _

_No. He could not say why he knew that- and even if he could, there was no one to say it to._

_All that he knew was that he was waiting for something. But in this place, there was no such thing as time. For all he knew, he might have to wait an eternity, trapped forever in this dark limbo._

_But he decided it didn't matter. His brother was going to be all right. That was all he wanted- and if this was the price, then so be it._

_As time went by (he sometimes wondered just how much time, but would it have made a difference?) he started to lose his sense of 'self'. His name? His home? His dreams? What had they been? He couldn't remember a single thing. All he knew was that his brother was safe, and that he had to wait._

_For some reason, memories of his brother stayed when nothing else did. He couldn't recall his face, or his name, or what they had done together… but he still remembered his presence. It never faded, even in the dark that dulled everything else. _

_But all at once, without any warning, the darkness was gone. _

_A golden light shone, and he felt himself being pulled into it. No- pulled sounded too gentle. He was torn from the familiar darkness, and dragged into this harsh and blinding light._

_And yet, he could not shake the feeling that this was what he was waiting for. This light was taking him to the place he was meant to be._

_Was this death?_

_And still, he thought that it wasn't._

* * *

Al looked at himself, at the arrays he had drawn on his arms, legs, and chest. It didn't make sense. The lights signifying a successful transmutation had flashed, but the Gate hadn't taken anything, and there had not even been alchemical recoil. Did this mean that… there was no way to bring his big brother back? That the Gate hadn't taken anything because nothing would be enough to pay for his brother's soul?

"NO!" He shouted as soon as the thought crossed his mind. "NO! There **has** to be a way. There- there just has to…" He refused to let the threatening tears overflow. After everything that Ed had done for him, there had to be a way to make this right.

Standing up on shaky legs, he decided that it would be best to sleep before he went back to his father's books to research what he could have done wrong.

He had attempted the human transmutation in the barn annexed to the house, and had kept some gauze nearby in case he managed to survive it. The irony was not lost on him, and a bitter laugh escaped.

Ed was in a closed-off area in the back of the barn. He had not wanted his big brother to see the blood that would have undoubtedly come from a successful transmutation, and he knew that drawing a seal on him would be useless. The soul and body were always attracted to each other, like opposite magnetic polarities.

Now, however, Al had to get him back into the house. It was chilly out tonight, and even in a vegetative state, his brother was not immune to illness.

But instead of slouching corpse-like in the wheelchair, the person sitting in it was fully conscious- if somewhat dazed. He was looking around, and he rubbed one of his eyes with his good arm, as if he could not seem to believe where he was.

For a minute, Al didn't dare speak. At last, taking a few steps towards the chair, he choked out, "Ed- Edward?"

The blond head turned when he heard this, and he looked confused. In one horrible second, Al was afraid that this wasn't Ed he had brought back. That this was some unrelated soul that had just so happened to be caught in the alchemical crossfire. Or perhaps… he had waited too long to bring him back. That there was no more 'Ed' left in him, and that his brother was lost to darker places than the Gate.

"Al?" It was only one word, and the voice was raspy from lack of use, but it was enough. All of his doubts vanished, and Al collapsed to his knees by his brother's wheelchair. It was over. Everything had finally been paid its due. Through the tears he could no longer contain, Al smiled and said,

"Welcome back, Big Brother."

_A/N: This is my own ending (continuing from the Veggie!Ed ending) that I gave to the fan-made Fullmetal Alchemist video game, Bluebird's Illusion. It's quite possibly one of the most depressing games ever created- if you want to see why, look it up on Wikipedia. I'm in no mood to go into details._

_If there were ever two characters who deserve a happy ending, it's Alphonse and Edward Elric. I decided to give it to them- I don't care if it goes against every law of alchemy. They have paid more than enough then to be left the way that game did. _

_The first part is a quote from Al's monologue at the end of the Veggie!Ed ending. I do not own it, nor do I want to._


End file.
